Seraph on the Suwanee

by Zora Neale Hurston
Seraph on the Suwanee
book data
179 ratings, 3.77 average rating, 19 reviews (more data...)
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published
January 16th 1991 by Harper Perennial

binding
Paperback, 400 pages

isbn
0060973595    (isbn13: 9780060973599)

description

This novel of turn-of-the-century white "Florida Crackers" marks a daring departure for the author famous for her complex accounts of black

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other reviews (showing 1-20 of 249)

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Bernice
05/20/09
Bernice rated it: 5 of 5 stars

Like others of Zora's books, this book takes place in post civil war Florida. this fiction creates a structure to explore the nerve twitching symbiotic relationship between black and white residents as they struggle to make a living and move forward in what is a new world for both of them. best of all though, the characters are extremely complicated. Quick decisions of who is the "good" or "bad" guy will get unraveled, put back together, and unraveled again. I plan on reread...more
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Anjali
07/15/08
Anjali rated it: 5 of 5 stars

Read in August, 2008
Zora Neale Hurston is some kind of genius. This novel follows one woman's innermost feelings and insecurities as she goes from an awkward teenager to a wife and a mother. The description on goodreads says that this book is about a marriage "full of love but with very little communication," but seeing as that marriage starts with rape and kidnapping, I would say I think NOT. Actually, I think this book has a real feminist lens on the feelings of powerlessness and guilt that are impos...more
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Kristin
12/17/07
Kristin rated it: 4 of 5 stars

Read in January, 2007
This is Hurston's last published novel. It is also the novel that gets the least critical attention because it does not fit comfortably within the feminist or African American literary traditions. This is the most experimental of her novels. In her letters, we learn that Hurston was trying to say something about the state of marriage American society. The novel's heroine, Arvay Henson, is a challenge to readers. I think Hurston struggled to identify with her as well, which makes her occasional ...more
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Jennisea
05/03/09
Jennisea rated it: 4 of 5 stars

Great at the beginning but fades at the end
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Sharon Jessee
03/29/09
Sharon Jessee added it

A really odd, ejoyably so, book.
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Camille Belnap
10/29/07
Camille Belnap rated it: 4 of 5 stars

bookshelves: read-2007, read-2008
Read in May, 2008
May 29, 2008
For the life if me I can't figure out what it is that keeps drawing me back to this book. I was craving reading it so badly this month, so Bob bought it for me for Mother's day. I'm sure I'll be back to it again.

Oct 14, 2008
Finished second reading. Still as enjoyable second time around.


Oct 9, 2007
It's not as good as Their Eyes Were Watching God, but still a great read. I just finished it last week and am already part-way through a...more
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Amanda
06/21/08
Amanda rated it: 4 of 5 stars

Read in June, 2009
This is a beautiful book about self confidence, selfishness, love and marriage. Throughout her 20-something years of marriage, the main character, Arvay, questions whether her husband loves her. Eventually, she is forced to realize and examine the depth of his love and devotion for her, only to find that in her doubts she has failed him.
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Rachel
01/04/08
Rachel rated it: 5 of 5 stars

bookshelves: favorites
I wish Hurston wrote more novels from a woman's perspective. Reading this along with Their Eyes Were Watching God was like having the soft insistent voices inside every woman's head be voiced aloud on paper. What amazes me is that this is such a sympathetic portrait of a poor white woman by a poor black woman.
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Ola
06/14/07
Ola rated it: 3 of 5 stars

Read in May, 2007
recommends it for: hurston enthusiasts, teens and adults.
Ahh, my first Hurston novel. Seraph on the Suwanee chroncles the life of a Southern, white, married couple in the early 1900s. It started off a little slow for me. But around 50 pages or so, I started liking the novel. I hope to read more Zora Neale Hurston books in the future.
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Carrie
03/20/08
Carrie rated it: 5 of 5 stars

Read in January, 1999
I felt bad for Jeromy the first time I read this book. I couldn't put it down . . . for three days I don't think I really talked to him. I loved it. I loved the ending. It has to be one of my all time favorite books.
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Stephanie
02/22/08
Stephanie rated it: 5 of 5 stars

Read in February, 2007
I learned a little about Florida history, also about love, marriage, motherhood, and communication. An intelligent love story. The writing is poetic, absorbing, lush. Reading this book was a very enjoyable experience.
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Christina
09/23/08
Christina rated it: 3 of 5 stars

Read in October, 2008
Would have been fantastic were it not for countless reference to woman's inferiority to man. Hard to get past that, and from the same author that made Jamie Crawford so strong in Their Eyes Were Watching God, too.
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Rayette
06/27/08
Rayette rated it: 5 of 5 stars

I learned about "Florida Crackers" and about "negro" writers in the early 1900's. I also learned a little about myself. This was a very interesting book to me.
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Nice
10/17/08
Nice rated it: 4 of 5 stars

bookshelves: fiction
Much love to Zora. what a creative and intellectual force she was. I think I like this better than her eyes were watching god
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Kristen
09/01/08
Kristen rated it: 2 of 5 stars

Read in May, 1998
I didn't love this book when I read it in 1998, but I would like to re-read it to see if my impression has changed with time.
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sasha
06/25/08
sasha rated it: 4 of 5 stars

A compelling story, interested to compare the main character with some of Oates female characters.
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Noelle
11/25/07
Noelle rated it: 1 of 5 stars

bookshelves: fiction
I think this book snivels.
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Bahbah11
01/22/08
Bahbah11 rated it: 5 of 5 stars

excellent.
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Caroline
08/12/07
Caroline rated it: 3 of 5 stars

bookshelves: fiction, read-in-2002
Read in January, 2002
Good!
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Saren Eddy
07/03/09
Saren Eddy rated it: 5 of 5 stars



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